Electric stoves are household appliances that are generally used as an auxiliary heat source, to enhance heating of a room that is already equipped with a general heating system or to increase the temperature of a portion of the same room, preferably for a time that is limited to the time in which people are present in that area.
These limitations in the use of electric stoves are generally caused by the cost of electric power, which is certainly not the least expensive, as compared with other energy sources for heating such as methane or liquid propane gas, as well as diesel oil or other forms of liquid and solid fuel.
These electric stoves are known to consist of a light metal structure which is adapted to support a small incorporated electrical resistor, such resistor heating up upon power on, thereby diffusing the heat of such resistor to a radius of a few meters from the irradiating surface, generally with the help of a fan incorporated in the stove itself.
Due to their simple construction and small size, current electric stoves are advantageously available at rather low costs and also with attractive shapes, but have exhibited a number of drawbacks heretofore in terms of continuous use, due to their high power consumption associated with poor energy performance, whereby they are widely sold, but only for occasional use.
Stoves are also known which use halogen, quartz or IR lamps instead of mechanical or ceramic resistors, to improve performance, although in a range of small powers and sizes, considering a limited use thereof.
Recent developments in technologies for generation of electricity from sources other than traditional liquid and solid fuel sources, particularly for independent and continuous use, such as the one that might be obtained from photovoltaic panels, motivates an ever increasing number of consumers to consider the possibility of using the electricity generated with these new processes for heating.
Even in the field of electrical resistors, the leading-edge technology ensures the provision of heating cables having a high and constant linear power, with nichrome heating wires, providing a high and regular thermal efficiency.